Authorities still have no candidates for energy and justice minister posts – media

Who could head the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine?

The state leadership has not yet decided on candidates for the posts of Minister of Energy and Minister of Justice, although parliament is preparing to dismiss the current heads of ministries on 18 November.

According to Censor.NET, this is reported in the article " Mindichgate. What is happening in the government a week after the anti-corruption 'earthquake'" by Ukrainska Pravda.

It is noted that on 18 November, the Rada plans to dismiss Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynychuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko. However, it is not yet known who will replace them, since, according to an UP source in the government leadership, "there are no candidates". The head of one of the parliamentary committees said that there are two categories of potential ministers: "Those whom they would like to appoint but who are doing everything to refuse, and those who are begging for the job but nobody wants them."

According to UP, several candidates are being considered for the post of energy minister:

CEO of Naftogaz Serhii Koretskyi;
Head of the Verkhovna Rada energy committee Andrii Herus;
Member of the energy committee Andrii Zhupanin;
Member of the energy committee Yurii Kamelchuk.

Koretskyi is the most desirable candidate for the authorities. But he has already refused several times, explaining that he has only just taken over at Naftogaz. In addition, one of UP’s interlocutors in Servant of the People said that Koretskyi "doesn’t want, at the start of the heating season, to drop everything at Naftogaz, where he has somehow begun to set up processes his own way, and rush into the Energy Ministry, where everyone is demoralised, the energy sector is shattered, and the public backdrop is just perfect for career suicide.

Who could head the Ministry of Justice

There are no candidates to replace Halushchenko yet. Prime Minister Svyrydenko suggested to Zelenskyy that the responsibilities be combined and that Deputy Prime Minister for European integration Taras Kachka should also serve as justice minister.

"The logic is that in these fundamental first EU clusters it is the Justice Ministry that has to do the lion’s share of the legal work, so you can just pin all this on Kachka. But somehow neither the president nor the Rada have warmed to this idea," a UP interlocutor among the Servant of the People leadership noted.

According to UP, there were no final decisions as of the start of the week. It is expected that the Verkhovna Rada will dismiss the current ministers, after which the government will appoint acting ministers and the search for candidates will continue.

Mindichgate

Earlier, Censor.NET reported that NABU was conducting searches at Mindich's residence, who left Ukraine a few hours before the searches.
As reported, on Tuesday, 4 November, searches were conducted in one of the branches of the separate divisions of NNEGC "Energoatom" in connection with a corruption case.
The NABU is also conducting searches at the home of former Energy Minister Halushchenko and at "Energoatom".
The NABU and the SAPO announced a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector.
Current Minister of Energy Svitlana Hrynchuk appears on recordings obtained by NABU as part of its investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
Later, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau uncovered an office in central Kyiv belonging to the family of former MP and current Russian senator Andrii Derkach, where a "black ledger" was kept, cash was tracked, and money-laundering operations were organized.
On 11 November, NABU released recordings featuring Minister Halushchenko and Mindich.
Chernyshova has been served with a notice of suspicion of illicit enrichment under Operation "Midas."
One of the suspects, Dmytro Basov, was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 40 million.
Halushchenko's former adviser Myroniuk was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 126 million.
The Cabinet of Ministers has submitted proposals to the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to impose personal sanctions against Tymur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman following an NABU investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
Earlier, Ihor Myroniuk and Energoatom’s executive director for security, Dmytro Basov, featured on the NABU tapes under the alias "Tenor", were remanded in custody for 60 days.
Another suspect, Lesia Ustymenko, was also placed in pre-trial detention for 60 days.
The High Anti-Corruption Court has ruled on a preventive measure for Ihor Fursenko, a suspect in an energy-sector corruption case (known on the NABU tapes as "Roshyk").
On 13 November, the High Anti-Corruption Court arrested Liudmyla Zorina, with bail set at 12 million hryvnia.
Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Mindich and Tsukerman.